Three Days, Three CME Flavors - November 14-17, 2007

STEREO captured three differently shaped CMEs (coronal mass ejections) blasting out from the Sun over a three-day span (November 14-17, 2007). The COR2 (ahead) coronagraph, taking an image very 20 minutes, lets us generate a smooth motion movie of these events. The first CME billowed out as a doughnut-shaped CME to the lower right. The second one, late on Nov. 15, was a much more diffuse, "halo" CME that seemed to create a faint halo around the Sun as it expanded in all directions. In this instance it was determined that it originated from the backside of the Sun. The last CME was the more traditionally bulbous-shaped CME, more compact, distinct and brighter than the other two. These three represent one of the Sun's busiest periods in months.